Israeli strikes pound Lebanese coastal city after residents evacuate

TYRE, Lebanon (AP) — Israeli jets have struck multiple buildings in Lebanon’s southern coastal city of Tyre, sending large clouds of black smoke into the air. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that an Israeli strike on the nearby town of Maarakeh killed three people. There were no reports of casualties in Tyre, where the Israeli military had issued evacuation warnings prior to the strikes. Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group fired another barrage of rockets into Israel, including two that set off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv before being intercepted. Meanwhile, Hezbollah confirmed that Hashem Safieddine, a top official widely expected to be the militant group’s next leader, had been killed in an Israeli strike.

Floods in Philippines kill at least 9 and trap others on roofs as storm approaches

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Torrential rain set off by an approaching storm has swamped eastern Philippine cities and towns in widespread floods that have killed at least nine people, trapped others on their roofs and sparked frantic appeals for help. The government has shut down public schools and government offices on the entire main island of Luzon. Tropical Storm Trami is forecast to hit the coast of northeastern province of Aurora on Wednesday night. Thousands have moved to emergency shelters. Storm warnings have been raised in more than two dozen northern and central provinces, including in the capital, Manila.

An attack on a Turkish defense company that kills 5 people is blamed on Kurdish militants

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish officials say five people are dead and more than a dozen wounded after an attack at the state-run aerospace and defense company TUSAS. The interior minister said Kurdish militants are suspected of being behind the attack but cautioned that the process of identifying the assailants continues. The Islamic State group and leftist extremists have also carried out past attacks in Turkey. The company’s drones have been instrumental in Turkey gaining an upper hand in its fight against Kurdish militants inside the country and across the border in Iraq.

Kuwait bans ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’ video game

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The tiny Mideast nation of Kuwait has banned the release of the video game “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6,” which features the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and is set in part in the 1990s Gulf War. Kuwait has not publicly acknowledged banning the game, which is a tentpole product for the Microsoft-owned developer Activision set to be released on Friday worldwide. However, it comes as Kuwait still wrestles with the aftermath of the invasion and as video game makers more broadly deal with addressing historical and cultural issues in their work.